§ Mr. Heddle asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will undertake research into the future demand from registered deaf persons for the use of television, in particular for the services of Prestel, Teletext, and the Open University; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Rossi: Such research is a matter for the authorities directly concerned, all of which are aware of the needs of hearing impaired people. I understand that the BBC-Ceefax,-IBA-Oracle-and British Telecom-Prestel-are carrying out research on the extension of the Teletext facility.
482W§ Full information in respect of changes in the year mid-1980 to mid-1981 will not be available for some time, though some limited information on natural increase in the second half of 1980 was given in my reply to my hon. Friend on 22 October 1981.—[Vol. 10, c. 185.]
§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williams asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing for each of the years 1950, 1980, 2000 and 2020, and expressing each figure as a percentage of total population, the estimated numbers of men aged over 60 years, over 65 years and over 75 years, women aged over 60 years, over 65 years and over 75 years and young people aged under 16 years, between 16 and 18 years, and between 18 and 21 years.
§ Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg: Following is the available information for England and Wales. Estimates of persons aged 16 to 17 and 18 to 20 for 1950 are not readily available.